Old gun cleaning question

Cornflk1

Friend gave an old Carcanco war rifle. Don't believe it will ever become a shooter, just a wall hanger. He understands my small time collection of WW2 rifles, rifles that have "been there-done that".

I have stripped it down and found year of crud under the stock. the metal isn't deeply pitted, but could use a good scrubbing. Is a fine grade steel wool the answer?

Also the stock itself has deep dark oil/crud stains. I don't want to sand and lose proof marks, serial numbers, etc. I would like to clean it up a bit though. I'm not worried about the dings, those are the rifle's history and should remain.

Any suggestions? thanks in advance.

He Dog

I would use Murphy's Oil Soap on the stock along with forgemonkey's too brush. Actually I modified a battery tooth brush because I am lazy.

chris8X57

For the crusty metal under the stock line, use a penetrating oil and a brass toothbrush. It will clog less than steel wool and cause less harm to the parent metal. I really like that new penetrating oil that WD40 is selling.


I think Carcano's deserve a little more respect from a history stand point.
The Italians were involved in many campaigns across Europe and Africa, and thousands were taken prisoner at and around Stalingrad along with the German 6th Army.

kidthatsirish

I did the same to a Mosin nagant...

Here was my process and it worked great while retaining it's original characteristics. I took all the metal and put it in a plastic tub...then I added some dawn dish soap (tough on grease! )
And hot HOT steaming water. Let it soak for about two minutes then attack with a nylon scrub brush....keep scrubbing and it will come off....then rinse again with steaming hot water....should be so hot that it pretty much evaporates as it leaves the barrel....then dry it well with cloths and apply a light mild gun oil (i.e. break free clp). If you want to clean the bore with some gun barrel cleaners do that as well.


For the wood....I took a old tooth brush and also scrubbed it down....took a iron with a wet cloth and steamed out the dents which also removed some old oil and crud...then after letting it dry a few days I took a cloth with just a little boiled linseed oil and rubbed it down. ...gave it another day to dry out then reassembled. ...now its clean and "restored" with out losing its character

I would highly suggest using a set of gun smithing bits though....you can get a decent set for ten bucks.

Sam06

Don't use steel wool ever.

Use Big 45 Frontier Metal & Bore Cleaner



you can get them on fleabay. I looked on GB and did not see them for sale.

or here

http://gungaragegunparts.com/

They sell guns on GB but not the Big 45 bore and metal cleaner.

1BigGuy

kidthatsirish has some good suggestions.
I'll add that I once used a can of oven cleaner on an old blackened stock from a Turkish Mauser to clean it. It foamed much of the old oil and grease out. Then I scrubbed it with a 3M pad and water. While the wood was still wet, I used an iron and a wet cloth to steam many of the dents out of the wood. After a couple of days of drying, I applied boiled linseed oil. I think it turned out great.

EVILDR235

That dirt on the grassy knoll can cause a lot of rust. Probably removed any finger prints.

XXXXXX

v35

Rust never sleeps. It keeps working, read degenerating.
Also get bronze wool to use in your rust removal project.
When war surplus guns became available and for years afterward, Carcanos and Japanese rifles were considered junk. The Carcanos more so, which is why ammo wasn't available and it wasn't recommended to shoot them.
Also, bore variations were said to vary considerably.

perry shooter

Kroil wrap in paqper towels and keep wet for 24- 48 hours Then scrub with Burlap. For wood use ballistol and afer you clean metal with Kroil and burlap treat it with Ballistol also.

barto

One of my YUGO's came completely covered in cosmoline and I used oven cleaner on it.
Did a beautiful job.
For the metal I'd use stainless steel wool.
[^]barto[^]

MG1890

Copper scouring pad will not scratch steel or damage bluing. I have scrubbed the crap off some Winchesters with this stuff.

slumlord44

I have a nice example of the Oswald Carcanco with and excellent bore. It is as accurate as any other WWII bolt gun in my collection.

JamesRK

quote:Originally posted by He Dog
I would use Murphy's Oil Soap on the stock along with forgemonkey's too brush. Actually I modified a battery tooth brush because I am lazy.

You do know that's only one step away from using a Dremel. [:D]

jonk

On the wood I'd hose it down with ballistol, let wrap in plastic wrap for a few days, then spray on more ballistol and wipe dry with a cloth.

On the metal... mixed bag. Kerosene and ATF fluid will dissolve dirt and cosmoline well, but if you have actual rust... removing it will leave shiny spots, leaving it there and it will keep rusting. Your call. Usually I buff it with 0000 steel wool to smooth out any scale and then just make sure to oil regularly. That's me.

No reason not to shoot it. They have a bad reputation for no good reason. With a solid bolt body they are more than robust enough for either of the Carcano cartridges, and were probably better than most early 1890s designs. With good handloads all mine were 2MOA or better shooters.